The Forest Modern: Our Aged French Oak Hardwood Floors
Choosing hardwood flooring for your home can be a bit of a daunting task. There are so many options out there in the wood category from engineered to custom site finish among a variety of different wood species. Oak tends to be one of the most popular options due to it’s durability, but it can take on many different looks depending on the finish. I’ve been getting so many emails and questions regarding our aged french oak hardwood floors at the Forest Modern so I’m sharing the source with you. Please note that this is not an endorsement or sponsored post with a brand I worked with. I just really love these floors and want to share the goods with you!
Originally, I thought I wanted to go with 10″ wide unfinished oak and have them finished on site with hand troweling, wire brushing and the perfect natural matte stain. What I learned after researching is that this option is very expensive. Knowing that we would be putting hardwood floors in the entire home, minus the boys’ bedrooms and a few other rooms, we needed to bring our hardwood floors within an affordable budget since we were covering a good deal of square footage.
Another dilemma I had with the unfinished oak was fearing that the installer would not be able to finish the oak with the exact look I was wanting. Maybe the hand distressed finish wouldn’t be distressed enough or the natural stain would turn out to have too much of a yellow undertone. I didn’t want to worry what the finished product would look like. Then I came across this engineered hardwood and immediatley fell in love. You first saw them in our kitchen reveal HERE.
They are 8″ wide engineered, french oak, hand scraped, with a natural matte finish. They are absolutely gorgeous and one of the first things people comment on when they walk into the home. The best thing about them is they hide all the dirt and puppy paw prints. If you’re interested in these gorgeous aged french oak hardwood floors, then check with your local hardwood floor company/installer to see if they can order it for you.
A peek of the upstairs hallways. I’ll be sharing another post soon with all the paint colors in our home. Stay tuned! Get the brand of our hardwood floors HERE (our color is Tripoli). If you’re interested in that cute wall sconce you can find it HERE.
Thanks for following along!
Your new home is gorgeous and those floors are amazing.
Thank you so much Marty! I hope you’re having a wonderful summer!
Hi. We are building and I have been totally engrossed in your blog!!! You make me feel sane to hear some of the same stories and issues! Your house is ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!!
I very much want to do engineered wood floors to control cost and color. My concern is our two large dogs. I’ve been told that the stain and sealant doesn’t cover the seams if it’s not site finished. This would allow a dog accident to seep between the boards to live forever? Have you heard this??
Hi! Thank you for the sweet compliment! I’ve never heard that about engineered floors but I guess it could be a possibility and I’m no expert. The seal between the boards is super tight so I’m not concerned on ours. I would think that the stain and sealant for an onsite finish only absorbs into the wood anyways and wouldn’t form a “sealed” barrier in the tiny gap between the boards. Only grout would prevent that (like in tile). Does that make sense? There again, I’m not an expert in the matter but we’ve never had any issues with our engineered floors in previous homes with our dogs.
Good luck with your build! Hang in there!
Absolutely beautiful! I’m wondering your thoughts on some of the higher end luxury vinyl planks. The budget won’t allow real hardwoods so I keep going between LVP and engineered hardwoods. Thanks!
Hi! My floors are the engineered planks and I LOVE them! I’ve seen some LVP’s that look great as well and certainly an option to get within your budget. My personal preference is engineered over LVP however. Just feels different on the feet if that makes sense. Good luck!
Your new home is gorgeous….congratulations! I was just wondering if you are continuing the brass theme in your bathrooms and other light fixtures in the house? That is our dilemma at the moment. I love the brass look but don’t know if we should use it in all of the bathrooms in our new home or just the kitchen. Our thought was to have it all the same to stay cohesive but I am afraid it will be too much…
Hi! Thank you for following along and for the sweet comment! Mostly I am carrying the brass theme throughout the fixtures in the home with the exception of some that are matte black. I thing mixing the black and brass fixtures look very cohesive. I probably wouldn’t mix chrome or stainless with the brass, but that’s just my personal opinion. Good luck! 😉
I have read and re-read this post and I cannot figure out who the manufacturer is of the hardwood floors? Did you list it and I just missed it? If not could you give the name and color of the floors? Thank you so much, I absolutely love it!
Hi Kelley, the hardwood floor source is linked directly in my post. Sorry if it was confusing. Here’s the link: http://www.californiaclassicsfloors.com/hardwood-flooring/Mediterranean/FrenchOak/Tripoli-flooring.aspx
Good luck! 😉
First of all, your home is AMAZING! It is beyond beautiful. Thank you for sharing all its goodness. I have a flooring 911 that I would love your opinion on. We are in the homestretch of a big renovation, tore this house down to the studs. The style we are going for is modern farmhouse, more modern than farmhouse. Originally, we picked dark, dark floors – I thought it would be a great pop with all the white (walls, cabinets….). HOWEVER, when I saw the 7 inch wide, character grade with a beveled edge white oak, installed I thought I was in heaven! This took some convincing with my husband but I just knew the light floors felt better in the house. They are so light and bright. Here is where things get dicey. We cannot get the right stain/seal on these floor without turning the wood yellowish. Yucko. We have tried natural stain, clear seal, Nordic stain, and bona white. It’s difficult trying to get a “natural” look with khaki or light brown tones versus yellow. My husband is ready to go back to dark floors but I really feel like light s the way to go. We need to have this dialed in this week Yikes, the pressure! 🙂 Had I known the engineered floors were the exact look we’re wanting, I would have done those. I really like the flooring company in Denver that we are working with though do you have any suggestions on how to get the color right?
Thank you!
Hi! Thank you so much for your sweet compliments! Unfortunately, I really don’t have a helpful answer on your hardwood floors. I’ve heard where people have added a bit of paint to their stain mix to “break” the yellow undertones. We actually did that on the oak in our kitchen panels/Cabinets. We added a very small amount of white paint to the clear coat stain to prevent the wood from yellowing. Maybe you can ask the flooring company you are working with if they know anything about this technique and if they have suggestions. Sorry I can’t be of any more help in the matter but good luck!
I just stumbled across your blog and now I am low-key obsessed! Any chance you’d share your final sketches of your floor plan?
Hi! Thanks for stopping by! I’m not sharing my floor plan to the public but if you follow along the blog when I reveal more rooms of the new home, you’ll be able to get a good sense of the layout.
Love it all! Do you remember why you chose the Tripoli over Malta or Vittoria? I’m looking for flooring that’s not too golden/yellow as well and from the vendor pics it Malta is the least “yellow” of the 3. Thanks in advance!
Thank you! I don’t remember seeing the Malta or Vittoria but I’m sure I compared them all and ultimately went with the Tripoli because it seemed to have the least undertone of grey/pink/yellow. It’s a true matte natural look. Absolutely gorgeous!
Your home is gorgeous! Would you mind sharing your cabinet maker’s contact info? I am in the midst of remodeling my kitchen in Ohio and am having trouble finding anyone who can achieve the rift white oak cabinetry look that I’m going for. I absolutely love how your cabinets turned out and I would love to connect with your cabinet maker if possible. Thank you for sharing so many details! I can’t wait to see more of your home!
Shannon
Hi Shannon! Thank you for the sweet compliment! My cabinet maker is Dale at First Call Cabinets locally in Colorado Springs.
I’m so confused. I’ve been looking at your gorgeous floors for a few years now and we are finally getting them. However, when I select view in your room they look grey. In your pictures they look like it’s just a natural clear color over white oak. So are they grey??
Hi! Our hardwood floors are natural light oak color. No grey in them at all. I do believe the manufacturer images look very different online.